Acceptance
by Crumbelina's Sweet Admirer
Summary: Sugar Rush. The game referred to as "that candy go-kart game over by the Whack-A-Mole". The game referred to as "sweet". But have you ever thought that a game as sweet as Sugar Rush could have NPC's with dreams? VanillaButter and CherrySwirl pairings. I do not own Wreck-It Ralph or its characters. Cinndon Sodagard is owned by the writer of the same name.
1. I Dream Of Racing

Author's Note: This is a story I worked on over three years ago, and I thought I would share it with the Fanfiction world. Enjoy it!

* * *

It was just a normal day in Sugar Rush, where the racers were finishing up the day's Random Roster Race. Taffyta Muttonfudge was in the lead alongside the president, Vanellope Von Schweetz.

"Ready to lose your status as number one racer, Muttonfudge?" Vanellope asks the pink racer, who is now neck-and-neck with the perky president.

"Never, Vanilla Pee! You will lose your status as number one racer here and now!" Taffyta says, speeding ahead of Vanellope.

"Oh, it's on!" Vanellope says, speeding alongside Taffyta.

There is a young girl watching from the nearby candy cane tree, seeing the two racers go at it.

"No, no...can't let them see...can't let them know..." the girl says, tugging at the strings on her neopolitan-themed hoodie. "I'm a NPC...and I can't be like them..."

The girl's name is Nea Politan, one of the many NPC's in Sugar Rush to date. Her brother Neo was picking Tootsie Roll flowers near one of the taffy swamps.

"Neo! Don't you want to see the races?" Nea yells from the top of the tree she's sitting on.

"No, I don't, sis. You know we're only NPC's. We can't be avatars like the others." Neo says, putting the freshly picked Tootsie Roll flowers in a woven candy basket. "And we don't own karts like them. All we can do is try and be friends with them."

"Oh, darn it, bro, why do you always crush my spirits?" Nea climbs down from the tree and joins her brother by the taffy swamp where he was picking the Tootsie Roll flowers. "I wanna be a racer as much as I don't wanna be a NPC anymore. I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines. I want to be accepted by the others."

"I wish the same thing, sis. But we can't be racers. We're NPC's." Neo says, taking a flower from his basket and eating the chocolate part off of it.

There were other NPC's: ones who gave basic game instructions, ones who worked in the kart garage, and some who were simply race spectators besides the candy citizens. Each Sugar Rush Racer had one NPC cheering for them among their candy fans, all with different themes.

It was no surprise that these two NPC's wanted to be racers. Really, it wasn't.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the track, the racers had just finished the Random Roster Race, the next day's avatars being Taffyta, Vanellope, Rancis, Minty, Swizzle, Jubileena, Crumbelina, Cinndon, and Candlehead. So, now, the racers were standing around, chatting.

"Who wants to go to the Jelly Fruit Springs for an after race drink?" Citrusella asks. Most of the racers raise their hands eagerly. Everyone knew the Jelly Fruit Springs boasted some of the best soda in the game and made for an ideal after-game hangout.

"I have to meet Stinkbrain and Hammer Time for drinks at Tapper's, so I'll be back later." Vanellope says to the group heading to the Jelly Fruit Springs.

"I thought we were talking about your birthday party, Nelly!" Rancis said, jumping back into the _Kit Kart_.

"We will, Flugs, but for now, I need to meet my friends. I promise we'll talk about it soon!" Vanellope says, hopping into her kart and driving away.

"Well..." Rancis says as Vanellope drives off. "I guess it's just me and the rest of us, Ella."

Citrusella nods, taking the group toward the Jelly Fruit Springs.

In the Jelly Fruit Springs, the racers there are getting the assorted sodas that gush from some of the jelly fruit and some of the sodas that formed lakes in the springs.

"So, we should talk about the president's birthday, shouldn't we? I mean, it is coming up..." Rancis said, taking a sip of brambleberry soda.

"We should. You think she's gonna throw another kick-ass birthday bash just like last year, or do you think it'll be different?" Swizzle asks, his arm around Jubileena.

"I don't know, Swizz. I mean, she is the president. Doesn't she always have kick-ass parties?" Rancis replies, the swirl pop boy looking at him like he's crazy.

"You're right, Fluggerbutt. But it's the themes for all her parties that make them cool!" Swizzle says, smiling. "I still remember her glow in the dark party she had for her birthday last year! I loved all the neon!"

"Whatever theme it is, I'm sure it'll be super awesome!" Gloyd says, smiling and sipping the juice from a yellow wax bottle, which was his preferred drink at the moment. "All I know is that she gets pinatas filled with the best candy at all her parties! I look forward to that!"

"Well, my friends, the best part of any party is the music..." Cinndon says, getting himself a cup of pineapple soda. "You think she'll want live music?"

"Maybe so." Rancis says. "I don't know why Nelly doesn't want to talk about her birthday party, though."

"Well, maybe it's the fact that this is her second one since she started ruling Sugar Rush." Minty says, eating a gummy spearmint leaf.

"Yeah, that could be one reason." Rancis says, looking a bit worried about his girlfriend. "She's been confiding in her friends a lot lately, so her birthday is probably one topic she's real sensitive about at the moment."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Rancis." Cinndon says, putting a hand on Rancis' shoulder. "It's gonna be okay. Vanellope's gonna have a good birthday, I can promise you that. She's always enjoyed the parties she's thrown for us, so I know she will enjoy her own birthday party."

Rancis nods, lost in thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a chocolate shack near Almond Joy Alley, a few NPC's were gathered inside, talking among themselves.

"A birthday party for the president?" Nea says, a bit giddy upon hearing the news.

"Don't hold your breath, sis. Only the racers are invited to parties like that." Neo says. "We're not racers. Not yet, anyway."

Nea sighs. "I wish we were invited to parties and we could race and stuff."

Neo puts a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder, and sits with her. He knows all Nea wants is to feel accepted.

* * *

(End of Chapter 1)

A Little Rundown of the Racers' NPC fans (these fans are among the candy fans, keep that in mind, they don't race at the moment):

Vanellope Von Schweetz: Alison Turkton Delight (female)

Taffyta Muttonfudge: Strawbetty Pollipop (female)

Adorabeezle Winterpop: Pepper Cane (female)

Gloyd Orangeboar: Mitchell McMellowcreme (male)

Crumbelina Di Caramello: Tira Missy (female)

Minty Zaki: Mentha Spearmint (female)

Snowanna Rainbeau: Rainblo Di Sherbetty (female)

Jubileena Bing-Bing: Cherrypop Sugarfuse (female)

Swizzle Malarkey: Rodney Rancher (male)

Candlehead: Chip Chocolatte (male)

Cinndon Sodagard: Jonah Joralmond (male)

(you will meet these NPC's in the next chapter)


	2. Familiar Territory

The next day, the nine racers who were on today's roster gathered at the track, giving their karts pre-race once-overs.

"Morning, Rancis." Cinndon says, sitting on the hood of his kart. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I slept fine. I'm just so worried about Nelly, Cinndon. She normally never leaves when I want to talk to her." Rancis says, polishing his kart mirrors. "I mean, why is she so sensitive about her birthday? She's gonna be the big 1-0 and everything."

"Well, maybe she's a bit on edge since she became president. It's a lot of stress on her. I mean, now that she has the castle back and she's ruler once more, it might be a bit too much on her at the moment. She probably confides in Ralph and Felix because she needs time out of the game. Except for Bad-Anon, when she brings Felix and Calhoun to watch the races." Cinndon says. "I know that for sure because they're here to see her race almost all the time and they're spending the night in the castle with her as well."

"Were they here last night?" Rancis asks Cinndon, who's jumping into the CinnaKart.

"Felix was here last night, but since Ralph had Bad-Anon, he met her and Felix at Tapper's for drinks." Cinndon replies, adjusting his cinnamon-themed goggles.

"Oh, but do you think Nelly would be willing to talk to me today?" Rancis asks him, looking a bit desperate.

"Well, probably so. Wouldn't hurt to ask her." Cinndon says, leaning back in his kart.

Just then, Vanellope pulls up in the Candy Kart, pulling her kart into the second position. She sees Rancis' kart parked next to hers, then looks down at her feet. She really left Rancis behind when he wanted to talk, and she felt bad as she pulled her racing goggles from her hoodie pocket.

Before Rancis could get Vanellope's attention, the arcade started to open and he knew it was time to start the day's races. He'd get a chance to talk to Vanellope later, for sure.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Almond Joy Alley, the NPC's that didn't have to be at the track were gathered in the little shed that they live in.

"Hey, Rainblo! Pass me another creamsicle soda!" Mitchell yells from the marshmallow sofa he's sitting on to watch the day's races.

"Get it yourself, you lazy bum!" Rainblo yells, staring at a rack of CD's next to her stereo system. "And Pepper, quit humming like a sugar mosquito. What in the hell are you doing, anyway?"

"In case you're not aware, Di Sherbetty, I'm meditating." Pepper says, sitting cross legged, her arms spread apart, and her hands with her fingers spread out. "You should try it sometime."

"Are you crazy? I don't want to look like you, you peace- loving-meditation-on-a-daily-basis hippie! Save your meditation for someone who cares!" Rainblo says, putting on a CD and slipping on her Skittle earphones, tuning Mitchell and Pepper out.

"Mod, who peed on her Oreos?" Pepper says, still cross-legged on the floor.

"Beats me, Pepper. I think she's just in one of those moods." Mitchell says, now watching the races. "I know girls who get in those kinds of moods aren't ones to be messed with."

Pepper nods in agreement, then goes back to meditating. Mitchell turns back to the races.

In the Candy Cane Forest, Neo and Nea were sitting side-by-side on a single-stripe branch, watching the day's races go on.

"Wow, those are race karts? They're fast!" Neo says, now realizing what his sister was talking about. "Still, we can't race. We're NPC's, sis. Our job is to give the basic instructions on how to choose avatars, accelerate the karts, and use the power-ups."

"I know, Neo. I'm not stupid. I just want to be a racer like them." Nea says, folding her arms. "Why can't you see that?"

"I can see that, sis. But remember the last time you built a kart and tried to join a roster race?" Neo asks her.

"Yes, I remember..." Nea says, remembering it like it was yesterday.

* * *

(Nea's Flashback, Part 1)

Nea comes out of the kart bakery with a kart made to look like a neopolitan ice cream cone with chocolate tail pipes and Oreo wheels.

"Finally, I have my own kart! I can race!" Nea says, practically leaping out of the bakery with her newly made kart. "Now, to find a coin and join the roster race!"

She finds a coin laying by the cotton candy bushes near the bakery and smiles, feeling the cool metal of the coin on her hands. She gleefully stuffs the coin in her hoodie pocket and jumps into the kart, driving it to the track.

She arrives at the track, where all the racers were watching Vanellope give her normal speech that she makes after the arcade closes. Nea parks the kart next to Taffyta's, covering it with a pink candy wrapper, then she lines up as the other racers are throwing in their coins.

She gets more excited as the racers move up. The names all sounded a bit familiar to her, but she didn't care. She was just ready to race!

Finally, it was her turn. She throws in her coin.

"Nea Politan!" the announcer yells.

"Yay! I'm in the race!" Nea jumps for joy and smiles.

It was then that Vanellope took notice. "Hey, you!" she shouted at Nea. Nea jumped in her kart and drove away.

"There is no way I will ever race with a NPC. Minty, Swizzle, come on." Adorabeezle says, hopping into the Ice Rocket. The candy apple girl and swirl pop boy nod and hop into their karts, following Adorabeezle.

* * *

(Nea's Flashback, Part 2)

Nea was in the junkyard with her kart, looking around for any signs of the racers.

"Phew, outran them." Nea says, leaning her back against a pile of old tires.

But, it wasn't long until she heard the roars of other kart engines approaching the junkyard. "Oh, no...they found me..." Nea says sadly. The racers park their karts and hop out, scowls on their faces, and the Candy Apple Swirled Icepop trio approaching Nea, the leader of the trio smirking gleefully.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A NPC!" Adorabeezle says, folding her arms. "And what is this little hunk of junk you have here?" she asks, walking around the kart with Swizzle and Minty following her.

"This is the Neopolitan Crush...the fastest kart that will defy all odds on the track!" Nea shouts at the winter racer, who just looks at her with a mean look on her face.

"Oh, Nea, this kart is so YOU!" Adorabeezle says, touching the kart's smooth surface. "Buuuuut...you have to drop out of the roster race." she says, popping a Rocket Pop into her own mouth as Swizzle and Minty chuckle lightly. "Yeah."

"Oh...oh, no, Miss Winter Racer...I paid my fee already and I'm on the board, so I'm afraid the answer is no." Nea says in an attempt to save her kart.

"Well, President Vanellope says that you're only an NPC, and you know the rules about NPC's." Adorabeezle says as she gets closer to Nea's face.

"NPC's can't own karts for racing, only for the jobs they're programmed to do." Swizzle states, his arms folded and a rainbow lollipop hanging out of his mouth.

"Swizzle is right, you neopolitan NPC. You can't race. So, do you know what we plan to do to your kart now?" Adorabeezle asks the neopolitan girl, who's trembling with fear.

"N-No, what?" Nea asks, now scared.

"We plan to smash it to bits!" Adorabeezle shouts. The racers around her cheer in agreement and start ambushing the Neopolitan Crush. They start damaging the kart until it's beyond repair. But Nea runs and grabs Adorabeezle's arm.

"Hey! What gives?!" Adorabeezle yells at Nea.

"Please, don't destroy my kart! I just want to race like you guys! I wanna be like you!" Nea says, hitting her knees.

"Ha! You want to be a racer? What a funny joke, little NPC. You're just a NPC, a lonely little NPC, and THAT'S ALL YOU'RE EVER GONNA BE!" Adorabeezle shouts as she tosses Nea into a rotten chocolate milk puddle.

All Nea can do is cry as the racers destroy the kart she worked so hard on.

(End Flashback)

* * *

"Now you know why you can't race." Neo says to his sister. "We're NPC's, Nea. Not racers. If we try to build karts and enter the race, the other racers will come after us. The NPC's who cheer them on can have karts as transportation, but we're not allowed to have our own karts, end of story." Neo says as he climbs down from the candy cane tree.

"I understand now, Neo." Nea says sadly.

The two siblings go to the Grape Soda River and sit at the edge.

At the end of the day's races, Rancis parks his kart and walks up to Vanellope, who was taking off her racing goggles.

"Hey, Nelly? Do you have time to talk?" Rancis asks Vanellope, who's climbing out of her kart.

"Sure, Rancis, what's up?" Vanellope says as she faces Rancis.

"Well, I know it's almost your tenth birthday and all, but I wanna know something. You haven't really been yourself lately, why is that?" Rancis asks his girlfriend, who is looking worried.

"Well, the truth is, Rancis, I haven't been myself lately because I've been thinking about all the stuff that happened since I've become president. These two NPC's come up to me and ask for an invitation to my birthday party. Naturally, I wouldn't know how to answer their request, so I reply with a no. My birthday parties are racer-only events. Then they ask me that if they were racers, would they get invitations, and I answered that with a no. NPC's can never become racers. It's game policy." Vanellope says with a sigh. "It's just these same two NPC's come up and ask me a series of questions. I can't take it anymore, Flugs. I just wish they'd quit bothering me every hour of the day. That's why I've been hanging around with my friends so much. Just to get away from them."

"So, the stress of your tenth birthday isn't getting to you, Nelly?" Rancis asks her.

Vanellope shakes her head. "Are you crazy, Flugs? I'm psyched to be turning ten, and I've planned my birthday party for MONTHS!"

"That's good to know, Nelly. Wanna go to the Chocolate Bar and grab a few drinks? My treat." Rancis says, smiling.

"I would love that, Flugs." Vanellope says, kissing Rancis' cheek and jumping into her kart, driving off. "Last one there is a rotten chocolate bar!"

"You're on, Nelly!" Rancis says, jumping into his kart and following her all the way to the Chocolate Bar.


	3. Waiting In The Wings

The Chocolate Bar was indeed a place where racers could go to unwind and talk about their problems. Rancis and Vanellope order some peppermint milk and sit at the bar, where Swizzle was polishing some glasses. Swizzle was the manager and one of the bartenders, and was polite to the customers.

"So, the big day's coming up, huh, Miss President?" Swizzle asks her as she takes a sip of her milk.

"Indeed it is, Swizz. You still gonna come?" Vanellope asks Swizzle. Swizzle nods and smiles.

"You know I'd never miss your party, Miss President! And turning ten years old is big!" Swizzle says, smiling. "I still remember my tenth birthday..."

"Nelly, tell him about the NPC's!" Rancis tells Vanellope.

"What NPC's?" Swizzle asks the couple.

"Neo and Nea Politan, the two instruction NPC's. They came to the castle requesting an invitation to my birthday party." Vanellope tells Swizzle. "I said that my party was strictly racers only. Then they come to me again, saying that if they became racers, would they be invited? I answered no to that, too. They won't ever become racers."

"Nelly, what if they try to join the roster race?" Rancis asks her.

"Then I will command you all to destroy their karts to prevent them from doing so. We've been over this, Flugs. Those NPC's will never become racers." Vanellope says. "They're always going to be NPC's. They won't race."

"Right, Nelly." Rancis replies. "I get it."

* * *

The next day, Nea sneaks over to the kart bakery.

"Nea, you know you're just gonna get it destroyed again..." Neo says to his sister.

"I don't care, Neo. I want to prove to those racers that NPC's can race." Nea says, determined.

"I know you do, sis. But I don't wanna say I didn't warn you." Neo says as the two of them reach the kart bakery's entrance.

The two NPC's enter the bakery and make Nea another kart.

"If this one enters the roster race...well, I warned you about this. You know those racers will lose it with you." Neo said. "I still don't want to see you hurt. You know those racers are cruel and their crowd-pleasing NPC's are just as mean as they are."

"I know that, Neo." Nea says. "I will be careful."

And with that, she drives off to the Royal Raceway.

At the track, the racers and their NPC's were cheering for a day well raced. The day's avatars were cleared from the board and the racers were throwing in their coins for the roster race to determine Saturday's roster. Today was Friday, and tomorrow was Saturday, which meant the arcade would be super busy. But tomorrow also meant no roster race since the arcade was closed on Sundays.

What the racers didn't know was that Nea was hiding between the grandstands.


End file.
